Soviet–Japanese border conflicts
Armed conflict in the 1930s between the Soviets, Mongolians, and Japanese / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Soviet–Japanese border conflicts,[1] also known as the Soviet-Japanese Border War, the First Soviet-Japanese War, the Russo-Mongolian-Japanese Border Wars or the Soviet-Mongolian-Japanese Border Wars, were a series of minor and major conflicts fought between the Soviet Union (led by Joseph Stalin), Mongolia (led by Khorloogiin Choibalsan) and Japan (led by Hirohito) in Northeast Asia from 1932 to 1939.
Soviet–Japanese border conflicts | |||||||
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Part of the interwar period (until 1939) and World War II | |||||||
Japanese light tanks during the Battles of Khalkhin Gol | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Soviet Union Mongolia | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Joseph Stalin Georgy Zhukov Grigory Shtern Vasili Blyukher Khorloogiin Choibalsan |
Emperor Shōwa Kenkichi Ueda Yoshijirō Umezu Michitaro Komatsubara | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Total: 33,000 casualties (including 27,000 combat casualties) 32,0001,000 Material losses: 350 tanks destroyed 140 armoured cars destroyed 211 aircraft destroyed |
Total: 30,000 casualties (including 25,000 combat casualties and 5,000 non-combat casualties) 27,0003,000 Material losses: 43 tanks destroyed several tankettes destroyed 162 aircraft destroyed |
The Japanese expansion in Northeast China created a common border between Japanese-occupied Manchuria and the Soviet Far East. This led to growing tensions with the Soviet Union, with both sides often engaging in border violations and accusing the other of doing so. The Soviets and Japanese, including their respective client states of Mongolia and Manchukuo, fought in a series of escalating small border skirmishes and punitive expeditions from 1935 until Soviet-Mongolian victory over the Japanese in the 1939 Battles of Khalkhin Gol, which resolved the dispute and returned the borders to status quo ante bellum.
The Soviet–Japanese border conflicts heavily contributed to the signing of the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact in 1941.